Spring 2013

2013 ETM gala raises record-Breaking $500,000

Quarterly news from Education Through Music

The 2013 ETM Children’s Benefit Gala helped serve as a springboard to launch ETM’s aggressive plan to double the number of students served in the next few years, raising $500,000 to support Education Through Music programs in New York City. This was the first time the ETM Gala raised money at this level, through sponsorships, table and ticket sales, a silent auction and a live auction.

Much of the credit for the Gala’s success is due to Richard Bernstein, Executive Vice Chairman of Cassidy Turley, a commercial real estate firm, and the honoree for this year’s event. For the past year, Mr. Bernstein has reached out to countless companies and individuals to help raise funds for the 2013 Gala. Held at Cipriani 42nd Street on April 10, the event was attended by almost 500 people.

The highlight of the evening was a performance by ETM students. The students first sang “Turn the World Around,” a folk song inspired by African culture, written by Harry Belafonte and Robert Freedman. The second piece, “Nella Fantasia” – “In My Fantasy” – is an Italian song which captures the hopes and dreams we share for our world and for this generation of students. The student performance, accompanied by 2013 Honoree Richard Bernstein, was especially impressive given that it was the first time the students, who came from all 28 ETM partner schools, performed together.

Master of Ceremonies Christine Baranski applauds the ETM student performanceat the 2013 Children’s Benefit Gala.

Photo: Ryan Muir

Continued on page 2

Quality music education for all children

“Despite the cultural strengths of this great city, there are still schools that

have no music programs. We are striving to change this, so that all

children can receive a well-roundededucation and succeed in life.”

-Katherine Damkohler, ETM Executive Director

FoundErS

Eldon C. Mayer, Jr.Edmund R. Schroeder

AdMiniSTrATivE STAFF

Katherine DamkohlerExecutive Director

Rainah BerlowitzDirector of Operations

Katherine CanningDirector of Development & Program Evaluation

Tim LembergerDirector of Marketing & Communications

Kristen PappasEvaluation Associate

Leslie GordonMaraiya HakeemKrystal Valentin

Development Associates

Lina LiBookkeeper

progrAM STAFF

Peter PauliksDirector of Programs

Nicholas LaFleurAssistant Program Director

Chris MarolfProfessional Development & Consulting Specialist

Meryl CullomAllison Mickelson

Field Supervisors

Lisa Marie PersaudProgram Administrator

BoArd oF dirEcTorS

Michael R. SchaeferChairman

Emily H. SusskindRobert A. Weisstuch

Vice-Chairs

Katherine D. ElliottTreasurer

Edmund R. SchroederChairman Emeritus

Aly AlibhaiJoshua BellRick DobbisJennifer M. GoffVictor J. GoldbergKaren M. KarlsrudMara L. KleinAmy Dorn KopelanAnthony F. Lo CiceroAndrew J. MalikJoseph F. McDonaldLori A. MurphyNancy P. NorthernAmie PatelEdward J. PetnerDavid E. StieplemanManoj Susarla

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2013 GalaContinued from front page

In addition to the fundraising record, the event also saw increased attendance, as a number of celebrities, socialites and high-powered business leaders came out in support of ETM. Christine Baranski, star of the hit show “The Good Wife,” served as Master of Ceremonies. As a surprise announcment, Ms. Baranski volunteered to auction off lunch and a set visit to “The Good Wife.” Her genorosity resulted in $20,000 raised. Additional live auction items included gorilla tracking in Uganda, a trip to Los Angeles for a producer’s lunch with Glee Executive producer Dante DiLoreto, and fashion week tickets and VIP experiences. All together, over $40,000 was raised by the live auction, also an ETM record. Other celebrities who attended the event included actress Glenn Close, TV personality Gayle King, fashion designer Donna Karan, media titan Arianna Huffington, and Miss Universe Olivia Culpo. The honorary chairs for the evening were New York socialites Muffie Potter Aston, Debbie Bancroft and Grace Hightower DeNiro, the wife of actor Robert DeNiro. Long-time ETM supporter and Grammy Awarding-winning violinist Joshua Bell performed at the event with 2013 Honoree Richard Bernstein accompanying on the piano, playing “Meditation from Thaïs.” ETM Executive Director Katherine Damkohler told the audience at the event, “Despite the cultural strengths of this great city, there are still schools that have no music programs. We are striving to change this, so that all children can receive a well-rounded education.”

To see more photos and the honoree video from the 2013 Education Through Music Children’s Benefit Gala, visit:

www.ETMonline.org/2013gala

ETM students perform at the 2013 ETM Children’s Benefit Gala held on April 10 at Cipriani 42nd St.

Photo: Ryan Muir

School profile: pS 76 PS 76, the Bennington School in

the Bronx, has partnered with ETM since 2005, when PS 76 was a school without the arts. The school did not have a music room, and began with Education Through Music providing the school with three music teachers funded entirely by ETM. When the program began, one of the teach-ers was a music therapist for special education students, ensuring that all students in the school received music education.

“The success of PS 76 is due in large part to the strong leadership of Principal Louise Sedotto,” says Katherine Damkohler, Executive Direc-tor of ETM. “A great principal is key to ensuring a viable program, and we are fortunate to work with so many excep-tional princiapls across all our partner schools.”

In 2007 the school committed to hiring Jessica Parr to be the first per-manent music teacher for the school. This commitment from schools, to hire music teachers as part of the ETM model, ensures that schools become long-term partners with ETM.

The commitment to hire a teacher, and to fully partner with ETM, has been a result of the positive impact on students the school has seen since the partnership began.

“Since implementing ETM at PS 76 eight years ago, I’ve noticed improvements in many areas of our students and school community such as motivation, attendance and par-ent and community involvement,” says Louise Sedotto, PS 76 Principal. “Some students who aren’t normally motivated by regular school subjects have increased motivation to improve their academic performance in order to participate in some of our extra musical programs.”

The PS 76 music program serves every single student (1072 students) with general music once a week, ensuring that the ETM program at the school has the greatest impact.

After establishing music as a core

subject at the school, ETM has worked with Ms. Sedotto to add extracurricular music activities as well, including a band program. The band program requires students to be at school by 7 a.m. three days a week, which means that students are also present and on time for their regular school hours, helping to support good attendance from students. As part of the pro-gram, students take care of their own instrument, making sure they have it with them on the proper days and the students are responsible for the maintenance of their instrument. Besides taking the responsibility for their instrument, students must also be responsible for maintaining high quality class work, homework and be-ing well-behaved in school. Students must manage their time as they must also practice every day on their instru-ment to remain in the program. “With the addition of ETM, musical skills have allowed for an increase in com-munity participation with our many performances both at the school and at various community locations,” says Sedotto. “Parents have become more involved and interested in many differ-ent general school events – some of which include short performances by groups of students singing or playing instruments.”

In the past eight years the partner-ship has grown tremendously. PS 76 now has two music rooms and a third grade recorder program. The school has a 5th grade concert band which is 100 out of 220 of the 5th grade students.

“I would tell anyone who is con-sidering implementing ETM into their school that this program has the abil-ity to not only improve the attitudes and motivation of their students, but also the involvement of parents and community within the school,” says Sedotto.

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ETM Partner School PS 76 has integrated full music education into the school’s curriculum and learning.

Photos: Meryl Cullom and Chris Marolf

Eduction Through Music Teachers Emily Roman and Matthew Brady, and PS 76 Music Teacher Jessica Parr.

Students greeted guests arriving at Cipriani with fanfare.

Director of Programs Peter Pauliks directs the ETM student performance at the 2013 gala.

A PS 169 student plucks on the bass—showcasing his musicality.

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The 2013 ETM children’s Benefit gala

2013 Gala Benefit Chair Rick Dobbis with 2013 Honoree Richard Bernstein.

Glenn Close, Gayle King, ETM Executive Director Katherine Damkohler and Donna Karan.

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Miss Universe Olivia Culpo with ETM students.

Celebrities Come Out to Support Education Through Music

Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post.

Joshua Bell performs with 2013 Honoree Richard Bernstein.

Photos: Patrick McMullan Company

ETM recently released a report on its program evaluation findings from the 2011-12 school year. Ongoing evaluation activities included conducting surveys and/or interviews with students, teachers, principals and parents, and collecting students’ assessment scores in music and academics. The data collected from 2011-2012 are considered as benchmarks and will be compared across subsequent school years. Findings include: • ETM enhances students’ general development, especially confidence and creativity. • ETM instruction is positively as sociated with students’ musical knowledge and with students’ academic achievement in Math and English Language Arts. • The majority of partner school classroom teachers believe that music education impacts student learning. • Over 90% of partner school principals and classroom teachers rate the program as either “excellent” or “good.” • 79% of parents believe that ETM has increased the musical activities they share with their children.

Additional information, as well as a link to the full report is available at :

www.etmonline.org/ evaluation2012

ETM Research6 Education Through Music Newsletter

virtuosi Wow pS 68 Ensemble Students On March 11, students enrolled at

Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music String Virtuosi performed at ETM Partner School PS 68 in the Bronx. The Jacobs School of Music—comprised of violinists, violists, and cellists between the ages of 12 and 18—were in New York for a perfor-mance at Carnegie Hall.

The Virtuosi provided PS 68’s fourth and fifth grade orchestra stu-dents with a sample of their Carnegie Hall program. The collective of seven musicians, under the direction of master teacher Mimi Zweig, wowed the audience with their impressive—and entirely memorized—repertoire. In preparation for the Virtuosi’s visit, the PS 68 orchestra students pre-pared by listening to the Prelude and Allegro by Kreisler—and were in awe of the live rendition.

After the performance, the ETM ensemble students showcased their own musical talents by playing a few selections with the Virtuosi, and end-ing with a piece demonstrating their knowledge of the twelve bar blues progression and improvisation. Dur-ing the Q&A, ETM students inquired

about preparation for the Virtuosi’s performances, and were stunned (and inspired) to learn the students prac-tice between three to five hours per day.

While ETM partner schools occa-sionally receive visits from seasoned professionals including ETM Board Member and violinist Joshua Bell, an alumnus of the Jacobs School, ac-cording to ETM Director of Programs Peter Pauliks, this visit was special because it allowed pupil-to-pupil in-teraction. ETM Music Teacher Brittany Kolodziej echoed these sentiments adding that, “When we got to play with them [the Virtuosi] at the end, I think the students—both Mimi’s and mine—had the most fun. The kids got really into it. There was such great energy in the auditorium.”

“There was a great connection made that day, and my students still talk about it every time I see them. I think it showed my students that they should dream big with their musical aspirations, because performing like a virtuoso is not out of reach or impos-sible for any of them.”

ETM FESTIVALWednesday, June 5, 2013

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.Marcus Garvey Park

122nd Street & Mount Morris Park West in Manhattan

FEATURING OVER 700 ETM STUDENTS!

Use the above QR code with your cell phone to access the ETM evaluation report.

7Education Through Music Newsletter

Allstate FoundationAltman FoundationAmerican Eagle Outfitters FoundationAmerican Express Gift Matching ProgramBangs Russell FoundationBettina Baruch FoundationBay and Paul FoundationsBest Buy Children’s FoundationBloomberg PhilanthropiesAnnie E. Casey FoundationCMA FoundationColgate-Palmolive CompanyCon EdisonD’Addario FoundationDancing Tides FoundationJean and Louis Dreyfus FoundationMax and Victoria Dreyfus FoundationElectronic Music UmbrellaWilliam and Muriel Elliott FoundationEdward A. Fogel FoundationFord FoundationSidney E. Frank Foundation

Gannett FoundationGilder FoundationFoundation for Global Sports DevelopmentGoldman SachsGramercy Park FoundationEugene and Emily Grant Family FoundationSusan and Richard Hare Family FoundationHearst FoundationsThe Hyde and Watson FoundationJockey Hollow FoundationCarl E. Kessler Family FoundationEmily Davie & Joseph S. Kornfeld FoundationThe Elroy and Terry Krumholz FoundationDouglas C. Lane & AssociatesThe Leir Charitable FoundationsManhattan Borough President’s OfficeMBIA FoundationMertz Gilmore FoundationMetLife FoundationNew Yankee Stadium Community Benefits FundNew York City Department of Cultural AffairsNew York City Department of Education

New York Community TrustNew York State Council on the ArtsNewman’s Own FoundationHenry E. Niles FoundationThe Nord Family FoundationOpen Society Institute Matching GiftsCarl and Lily Pforzheimer FoundationRBC Wealth ManagementMay and Samuel Rudin Family FoundationScoob Trust FoundationSimple Actions Family FoundationDr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn FoundationSprintErnst C. Stiefel FoundationTargetTokio Marine ManagementTPG Capital, LPMichael Tuch FoundationUllmann Family FoundationWachovia Wells Fargo FoundationWeil, Gotshal & Manges, LLPYoung People’s Music Program

Foundation, corporate & government Supporters 2011-12 and 2012-13

ETM’s programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

virtuosi Wow pS 68 Ensemble Students professional development for the united Federation of Teachers

On March 19, ETM Field Supervisor Meryl Cullom led a two-hour work-shop for 30 teachers in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Ms. Cullom offered strategies and tips for using music to reinforce the Common Core State Standards Initiative in non-music classrooms, and her presenta-tion was met with enthusiasm and eagerness to learn more.

“They were such a receptive audi-ence,” Ms. Cullom said. “At the end of my presentation when I asked what had been most helpful, one teacher raised her hand and said, ‘Everything!’ ”

The workshop was titled “Striking a Chord with the Common Chore.” Ms. Cullom went over the shifts in Math and English Language Arts under the Common Core, and then addressed how teachers can use music to guide their students to deeper understand-ing of these concepts, regardless of teachers’ music ability.

“We really wanted to provide the teachers with classroom-ready strate-gies, and I was happy to hear that the teachers felt that they could put these

practices into use immediately,” Ms. Cullom commented. “And that they felt that these ideas actually fit their specific situations.”

Since New York adopted the Stan-dards in July 2010, ETM infused its music curriculum with the Common Core and adjusted its professional development for non-music teach-ers in accordance with the standards. Ideas for non-music teachers include using instrumental story soundtracks to help students understand the vari-ous elements of a story. For math, teachers can use songs that explain coinage or help students remember how to tell time.

ETM hopes to continue collaborat-ing with the UFT after this successful introductory workshop.

Education Through Music welcomes two new Board members: Joshua Bell and Amy Dorn Kopelan. Joshua Bell joins the ETM Board af-ter serving on ETM’s advisory committee and supporting ETM for nearly a decade. Often referred to as the “poet of the violin,” Joshua Bell’s stunning virtuosity and charismatic stage presence have brought him universal acclaim. Having performed with every major orchestra in the world, Bell is an exclusive Sony Clas-sical artist who has recorded more than 40 CDs garnering numerous awards. Bell’s extensive career has spanned over 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and conductor. Amy Dorn Kopelan has over 20 years’ experience as a television execu-tive with Capital Cities/ABC Television, and served on the launch team for Good Morning America and as an editor for ABC News. Kopelan is Founder and President of Bedlam Productions Inc. and Producing Your Career leadership programs, Executive Studio and CEO Summits in the U.S. and Canada. Amy has been featured on Fox and Friends, CNBC, in CEO Magazine, BusinessWeek, Chief Learning Officer Magazine, and CNN.com.

ETM Welcomes New Board Members

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